State Assembly holds off on cuts to county fair funding

The California State Assembly held off on cutting $32 million in funding for state fairs Monday to the delight of state fair supporters, including those for the Humboldt County Fair.

Supporters made their case in front of an Assembly subcommittee Monday, saying that cutting fair funds would do more harm than good. They are hoping for a similar result from Thursday's meeting in front of the California State Senate.

Humboldt County Fairgrounds General Manager Stuart Titus said between 30 to 40 county fair representatives spoke at the hearing, urging the subcommittee to table the elimination and discuss alternatives with the California Fairs Alliance and fair managers.

"I think it was the strength of the turnout of fair representatives and the strength of our arguments that kind of won the day for us," Titus said.

In order to fill a $25.4 billion deficit, Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed $12.5 billion in cuts, including the $32 million of funding assistance for the 80 fairs throughout the state. The elimination of funding for the 2012-2013 fiscal year is expected to put 29 of the fairs, including Humboldt County, at risk of closure.

According to H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for the governor's financial department, Humboldt's share of the assistance is roughly $184,000. In 2010, the fair generated about $1.5 million in operating revenues.

Titus said the assistance only accounts for 10 percent of the fair's operational costs, but what he is more concerned about is the elimination of a special fund that would take away $300,000 to $340,000 from the fairgrounds' racing operations. The funds help pay for winners' purses. Titus said this would be a huge blow to the racing track, which is the smallest one in the fair circuit. The total amount that the fairgrounds would lose totals nearly $500,000.

"You can't make cuts and shift things over to make up a half a million on a total budget of $1.2 million," he said.

Palmer said the governor is making reductions and eliminations to nearly every aspect of government, and county fairs are not an exception.

The governor is also proposing to eliminate redevelopment agencies and use savings to give counties more general fund money in the 2012-2013 fiscal year. Palmer said Humboldt's share would be $300 million.

"In terms of potential fiscal sources for things of this nature, you could look to that," he said.

Stephen Chambers, spokesman for the California Fairs Alliance (CFA), said the group has other ideas for saving the state money. He presented the CFA's alternatives during the legislative budget hearing Monday, acknowledging that fair funding is a small piece of the state's big budget puzzle.

"We don't pretend to have all the solutions, but we think that the current proposal - just taking the money away without discussion - would have a devastating impact," Chambers said.

According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, California fairs generate about $126 million in direct income tax for the state. Titus said the Humboldt County Fair, which will be in its 115th year, is estimated to contribute around $6 million to the county through sales and hotel taxes.

The CFA is suggesting that the government streamline fair oversight while giving more revenue to fairs to create incentive and encourage more local control. Chambers said there are currently three agencies overseeing fairs and many regulations that are cumbersome and unnecessary. Furthermore, the CFA would like to see a pooling of a portion of the revenues to give back to the fair network. Chambers said increasing this funding source would take pressure off the general fund, making fairs more self-sufficient.

"The fair network has been around for over 100 years it deserves a strategic solution not just, 'OK, we'll do away with it,'" he said.

Eureka resident and Arcata native Harold Miller, who sells collectible cards at the fair, said the fair's vendors and patrons are part of the reason why he spends two weeks of his vacation time at the fair each year.

This year will be Miller's 14th year as a fair vendor. He said many vendors who travel from across the state and elsewhere will lose out on the business that is their livelihood if the fairs are closed, but Humboldt County will suffer an even bigger loss - an important community event with a "great family atmosphere."

"I certainly hope it continues on and on, not so much for the adults or the vendors, but for the kids," Miller said. "I really think the kids need something like this in our community. We're a rural community and we should really take advantage of being rural. Donna Tam can be reached at 441-0532 or dtam@times-standard.com.